The Download on Sync Services in Office for Mac 2011
We’ve seen questions come up regarding syncing with Outlook on Twitter and Facebook and wanted to take a minute to answer them here and make sure you have everything you need to know prior to the launch of Office for Mac 2011 which is next Tuesday, Oct. 26. For customers not using Exchange accounts, we wanted to give some background on our support for Sync Services. With Outlook 2011, we started from scratch with the goal of nailing reliability, performance, and features. We learned important lessons from struggles with Entourage in these areas and, with Office 2011 requiring OSX Leopard and up, were able to take advantage of substantial reliability improvements Apple made in its frameworks.
As we continue to develop Outlook for Mac, we’re taking a phased approach to ensure we are delivering reliable, high quality scenarios with Sync Services. In Outlook 14.0, the release arriving this month, you’ll find sync support for your contacts through Sync Services (Exchange users have full sync support for their content). We do understand that Calendar sync is important and are working on it now. It will be available in a free update to Outlook for Mac 2011 and we will keep you posted on timing.
Below are some answers to the most commonly asked questions. If there’s anything we haven’t covered, feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you. Additionally, on Tuesday we will have new Help & How To content which will provide additional details on how to sync your content.
If I am not an Exchange user, can my mobile device sync mail, contacts, calendar, etc?
For users not running Exchange, you can sync contacts through Sync Services and Outlook 2011 today. We will be adding additional support in the coming months including calendar.
Will I be able to sync the new Outlook for Mac with my BlackBerry mobile device?
Yes, through Sync Services. For BlackBerry devices you will need to choose a third-party plug-ins that enable Sync Services for specific devices.
Will I be able to access Outlook on iphone in any way, or will it be only for mac? can I sync data, and changes over the air without logging in to outlook on the mac?
Thank you. I’m glad to see calendar sync is in the works. Hopefully soon I can combine Mail, Calendar, and Address Book in to one application.
What is the best way to get all my contacts and email transferred from Entourage to Outlook?
when will you be able to sync Outlook 2011 for mac with your Google calendar?
this is a critical issue for anyone with a mac, office 2011, and an Android device..
Please implement this ASAP!!!
Can anyone make sense of this entry?
Calendar sync with gmail, ical is essential the vast majority of Mac users. This is one of the reasons we won’t be upgrading our computer Mac systems until it’s fixed. In my opinion this was a major omission.
Could you possibly point us in the direction of the 3rd party plug in for blackberry?
Good Moorning,
I’m very pleased that you make a Outlook for mac.
Now my question is to know if I can syncronise Outlook with mobile me and more important can I syncronise Cardscan from Corex.
I was able to do it with Outlook from windows, however I hope that you will do something for it on this new version of Outlook for mac.
Thank you in advance for your help and your work to make all this possible.
All my best
Federico
Will I be able to sync the new Outlook for Mac with my Iphone device? How?
I am a current user of Office for Mac 2008 and was very much looking forward to the new version. My main interest is in Outlook 2011 as a proper alternative to iCal & Mail. I’m a big fan of Mac, but the incompatibilities with my Windows/Office using colleagues has been a long time frustration.
This lack of support for synchronizing Outlook to iCal is – in my opinion – a big big mistake. Had it been there then I would have bought the new suite on day one, almost entirely for Outlook 2011 for Mac. In fact, I think it would be a huge driver for Mac users to finally really adopt Office for Mac, and choose it over iWork.
Not being able to sync my calendar with my iCal and therefore iPhone and iPad still leaves Outlook entirely unworkable for me. And that also goes for the mail bit, since that is where I do receive and send my meeting invites. I truly hope you will release this update very soon. Until then, consider me a lost and disappointed (to-be?) customer…
I spent 8 hours in an Apple store trying to get Office 2008 to sync with Mobile Me and my mobile devices. It didn’t happen and I decided to wait until 2011 is released to see if sync-ability is properly included. It’s absolutely crucial for Outlook 2011 to sync with Mobile Me. More and more Mac users have a Mac computer, iphone, and ipad and the need to keep data in sync is far more important than it was even at the time of 2008 before the iphone explosion. Mobile Me is the most expedient cloud vehicle to do this. This needs to be a priority for you because it’s a priority for us your consumer. The sync should be easy to set up, reliable, and elegant. That’s not asking too much is it? Good Luck. I look forward to your success with the new product.
1. I purchased Ofc Home and Student on 01-05-10 will there be an upgrade price for Ofc 2011?
2. Will Ofc 2011 Home and Business connect to MobileMe?
I have been using Entourage for over ten years. Will all my Entourage e-mail archives be able to be used with the new Office and Outlook?
This is a huge question as Entourage is my primary e-mail application.
This is very disappointing news. I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Office 2011 and had been hoping we’d all be surprised not only with competent syncing but with an iPhone companion for Outlook as well.
I’ve been using Office since the 1990′s and even though this is arguably the best version it simply doesn’t meet my needs and I’m seriously considering moving to something else. I’ve kept telling myself that task and category syncing was just an update away and that “surely they’re working on an iPhone companion, just wait”. So I’ve waited for years now and you’re actually trending backwards?
Thanks, but no thanks.
muy buenoooo
Hello,
As you mention, blackberry devices can sync with the new office via a third party plug-in. Could you please direct me to where i can find one of these plugins. Tried seraching google and have found nothing. Thank you.
How about iPhones?
With so many people relying on iPhone devices, calendar integration with Outlook:mac 2011 is now even more vital than ever. Working in healthcare, I have noticed a quickly increasing trend of healthcare providers who have migrated from other handheld devices to Apple iPad and iPhone devices. Where Entourage has seamless contacts and calendar synchronization with iPhone and Macintosh desktop applications via iTunes, Outlook:mac 2011 seems to miss the mark by not currently offering calendar synchronization. I hope that Microsoft is not shooting itself in the foot, disenfranchising the Apple iPhone community, by delaying iCal synchronization.
What is going to happen to Project Center with Mac For Office 2011?
I rely on this for simultaneously managing many projects collaboratively.
I’m not super familiar with the intricacies of the “Sync” service, but was wondering the following.
Without an Exchange server, will I still be able to receive “Meeting Requests” from my customers who send them using the PC version of Outlook? I don’t need to see their, or show my availability or anything, just to be able to “Accept” the invitation and have it added to my Outlook for Mac calendar.
Unrelated to Sync, but with Entourage I’m unable to receive attachments from PC versions of Outlook. They are converted to the dreaded “winmail.dat” format. Is this compatibility issue resolved in Outlook 2011?
Tx!
Any 3rd party sync services software will not sync directly with Office. It will sync with Apple’s “Truth” database via OSX sync services. I think you’ll find some helpful information here:
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/desktop/desktop_mac.jsp
There is a BCM feature in Microsoft Outlook on the PC……..will Outlook for the Mac support and provide this same feature??
Anything abaou sync with MobileMe Service?
Yikes, any ETA on the iCal sync feature? Please, an honest response would be appreciated even if it will be a while. I just need to know whether to start a manual switch over, or if I should wait it out.
Wow. What a huge omission. No sale here.
Hi everyone – We’re very excited about Office for Mac 2011 and really appreciate your feedback. There are a lot of good questions and comments about the new features and we are working to answer each of them as soon as we can. Thanks for your patience!
Convergence. Unified messaging. These terms have been around for more than two years. Mac users are ahead of the curve and this important feature has been left for later? Many of us are project managers and developers – Show us the proposed release schedule – Please!
I, too, am holding off to install until the best way to manage iCal (for iPhone syncing) and Outlook is determined. If the iCal calendar can be exported to Outlook, then it might be best to use iCal as the default calendar until the sync function from Outlook to iCal is resolved. They also note that Entourage (2008) does not have to be uninstalled to function within Outlook 2011. Again, it appears to be “how to resolve the calendar/iCal issue” that needs the short term workaround.
Hopefully, we can get some direction from Microsoft shortly (tonight would be great!). I am looking forward to installing and using 2011. Let’s go, gang!
I am really only interested in the Outlook program, and only if it FULLY syncs. It is bad enough to not sell Outlook as a stand-alone, and even worse to sell it without fully-functioning sync capabilities. I will be sticking with my Mac software.
Any idea on the timing for the calendar sync release — a week, a month, three months? Outlook is unusable to me until it’s out. Why in the world would you release a program without such critical functionality?
I must have support for Google calendars and CalDAV in order to use Outlook. I thought these were so common that they’d be in Outlook. The only reason I purchased Office 2011 was because I thought Outlook would improve upon Apple’s Calendar and Address book. But, for me right now, they’re more functional than Outlook.
When will calendar sync be available? Do you plan to support CalDAV? By when? Thank you for your honest response!
How can you release a product for Mac with less synchronisation than entourage with iPhone!
I cannot understand!
Now I am uninstalling your product and revert to entourage!
All I have to say is what was Microsoft “thinking” when you prioritized Exchange over iCal and Me sync? It is obvious you so not know or take into account your (potential) customer base and the speed of upgrades for individual users vs. companies with exchange servers in the MAC world.
MAC users all over the world were waiting for this upgrade …. now they are still waiting. Your decisions, customer awareness, and product delivery is missing the target on this one 100%. Get your heads out of the SAND!
Very disappointed that Outlook will not connect to the same Exchange server as Entourage.
I hope those of you with Exchange 2007 or higher have fun. I’m back to dealing with Entourage.
I too, like many above, need calendar sync with google calendar.
Thanks for the great release, and looking forward to the complete package with calendar (CALDAV) sync and auto sync with google apps and gmail.
There are a lot of questions and comments on the table. When will MS respond to them?
Excellent news. Thank you Microsoft Office team!! Can’t wait for the calendar sync functionality.
CP
The fact that Outllook for MAC does not support ical and cald div is completely ridiculous. Keep Office 2008..total wast of money!!!
It will teach me to make assumptions…. My assumption was that no software vendor would release an office productivity application without the ability to sync calendars.
I am sure that over the months to come this will be resolved, but who ever thought it was fit for release today without this functionality has lost sight of the way we all work today!
This is not acceptable!
What about CalDav support? My company uses a web-based calendar system. Outlook for the PC supports this, but Outlook for the Mac does not. Will this be supported in a future release?
Not supporting Sync with iCal is one issue. The other is lumping all the individual iCalendars into “No Category”. If you use your iCal and like the separation by color AND look back in time for anything good luck. Your new calendar in Outlook 2011 will be a bunch of gray.
It’s the easiest thing in the world to beat these guys up and say “lost customer” here.
iCal integration is pretty important and I too can’t wait for the release. But I think they get it and are working hard on it.
Software dev is a series of tradeoffs in terms of prioritization of feature / functionality vs. projected revenue. If they’d traded off the VB functionality in Excel, I’m sure there would have been equivalently vociferous commentary. I’m guessing that they’ve found it’s quite complicated and difficult and the priority was therefore to get this release out first.
All that said, I can’t understate what a tremendous step forward this version is. The acid test for me is the frequency with which I have to fire up parallels to use the windows version of MS Office. This has decreased dramatically. I have to do it for a plug-in from my travel provider. I had to do it to figure out some permissioning for one of my colleagues to access my outlook calendar. I have to do it for PowerPoint, when i need to create materials using a graphics package we use. But that’s a much shorter list – maybe once a week.
I live in my email software – and I find myself significantly more productive in this version of Outlook vs. Entourage. These sort of things are all subjective, but from my perspective, I’m much, much happier – to the point that I’m comfortable with supporting two of my partners who have wanted to switch to Macs, but wouldn’t have been prepared to live with parallels.
So congratulations and thanks to the MS team, I’ve now purchased multiple copies – and can’t wait for the iCal update
There have been a number of questions from non-Exchange users, about iphone and MobileMe sync. Currently you can sync Contacts only with Outlook 2011.
Outlook 2011 works with an OSX feature called “Sync Services” and will sync with the system’s ‘truth” database. OSX takes care of the rest and will sync your contacts with your devices and MobileMe.
Calendar sync is coming in a free update. The Calendar sync feature will work consistently with what is available for Contacts now. We realize that this is an important feature. I don’t have a specific release time frame at this point. Sorry.
Re: the questions about importing Entourage data, Outlook 2011 has an “Import from Entourage” feature that will copy the data over. Entourage and its data will not be affected.
Project Center is an Entourage feature and not present in Outlook 2011. If you import Entourage projects, they will be converted to Categories. We’ll be posting soon about some new Category features in Outlook that we hope you’ll find powerful.
Ira – Yes, without exchange, you’ll still be able to send and respond to meeting invites. Some features like “free/busy” availability require Exchange, but the core invite workflows will be available for non-Exchange users.
Re: winmail.dat, the situation will be the same as with Entourage. For more info, take a look here: http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/attachments.html#att7
Richard Kmieciak:
Can Outlook (2011) accept an “exported” calendar from iCal? IF it could, until the calendar sync is finished, iCal could be used as “default”, which could then be sent to both the iPhone and the Outlook 2011 calendar.
Is that a possibility?
Thanks for your response. Appreciate the feedback from the MacBU.
As much as I love the look and feel of Outlook, which is saying a lot coming from someone completely devoted to my Apple products, the fact that Outlook does not have calendar syncing basically makes it unusable for me. All of my calendars are web based and having to add another step to my workflow in order to use one application seems a bit irrational for MS to ask. In this day and age and with so much competition in the world of calendar app and apps specifically designed to maximize productivity this missing link almost makes this program feel ancient. Hopefully the release comes soon. Until then I will be unable to use Outlook which, as a customer, somewhat makes me feel I wasted my $$. I will be waiting.
How dare you sell something, in this case Office: Mac 2011, that’s not fully functional viz. calendar events cannot be transferred from iCal or MobileMe until and update is released!!!!
This almost verges on the criminal, in that you are selling a product that is not fully functional, while charging for the product as though it is. Microsoft, you have got to big for your boots. Now you think that you can treat your users any way you like. Surely this contravenes the” Truth in Advertising Laws” of the U.S.A. Is there an attorney out there who wants to make a name and fast buck for himself?
I agree with the more positive comments here and want to thank the MacBU team for their hard work here. Like many people I’d like to see better support for Google Calendars and Mobile Me, but these things will come in time.
One concern I do have though is, if I move my PST files to Outlook for Mac, and then at some point go back to Windows, is there a mechanism to move email from Outlook for Mac back to Outlook for Windows?
Thanks!
Chip
LACK OF CALENDAR SYNC IS A MAJOR FAULT – I honestly can’t believe that Microsoft is charging $A279.95 for a new suite that contains Outlook (at last) but that the calendar doesn’t sync with any other Apple product. I now have an iPhone and iPad that have no connection with my MacBook Pro. I know there’s a fix coming but how could they have released this without full Sync Services?
I wish I had found this blog before I spent the money on Office for mac 2011, what a waste of money. It is doubley infuriating that you have to pay so much more for the product in the UK than the US. It really spoilt my day !!!
I should have come here before I purchased & installed Office 2011. I spent $200 to have the upgrade to Outlook from Entourage. Only to find out is was a downgrade and I am stuck with no way to export my calendar to my Blackberry. How can you call it a business program without the ability to sync your calendar? Do you have the names of the 3rd party software that will allow me to get my calendar to my phone?
Can contacts stored in an ACT program on Windows be transferred into Outlook on the Mac?
I purchased Office 2008 in July 2010. Is there an upgrade price or do I have to purchase a whole new package?
I was also waiting for this update to have way better sync with iCalendars, iphone, address book, etc. Although the Mac team at Microsoft seems to have done quite a great job on this, they always seems to fall short of what we really need.
If you really want a great #1 contact system this is a must for Mac http://www.marketcircle.com/
They have 2 of the greatest Programs ever – Daylite, and Billings Pro. Nothing can beat them.
Sorry Microsoft, but I’ve been waiting too long, and you always come up short.
How can anyone at Microsoft THINK that the message that “we are taking a phased approach” would be acceptable to the public?!! It’s interesting that you have taken this approach to the product BUT NOT THE PRICING … if you believe in the product so much why not offer it to the public FREE until it is actually ready to be released … then it’s actually a good product we’d be glad to pay for it.
It’s obvious you don’t believe in the product yourself. You think it’s ok to FOOL the public into a purchase and obviously you are 100% out of touch with reality of public needs and expectations.
This is the most ridiculous product release i have ever seen. Every box should have a HUGE red sticker on it saying INCOMPLETE PRODUCT PURCHASE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND DISAPPOINTMENT.
You OWE the public a DATE for release. You HAVE our money!
hello,
I still don’t understand how you can think people will get a product that does not have a feature like calendar synchronization.
Do you know how many people use mobile device and sync them with their computer. I think your release is like a car without a wheel. Useless and dangerous. I know a lot of people fooled by you behavior and purchase the 2011 edition and will not just use it.
You’re supposed to be a company that test their software before any release. It seems you need to rethink why beta testing is for.
I very disappointed with the way you handle this release.
what an enormous waste of money Microsoft has cost me both in their new software and the new hardware (an Imac) I purchased. I was waiting to convert to the imac once there was a version of outlook available. they made it available but it lacks functionality. I did not learn this UNTIL I had converted all my programs & data over to the new imac — it took 3 days AND THEN LEARN THAT THERE IS NO CALENDAR SYNC plus the contacts are not syncing with mobileme.
Microsoft released an untested and unfinished product to get our money so they can report an increase in quarterly earnings from a shoddy product. this whole scenario cost me big money in lost time and productivity. shame on you microsoft
This is incredibly horrible! Basically, it boils down to false advertisement. Why offer a product that is not fully functional and demand payment on a product that is half-butt!? I don’t understand this concept.
You made a product for Mac, which most Mac user have Mac accounts and want the option to sync with MobileMe…How could Microsoft not take this into consideration and be proactive in seeing this as a MUST HAVE? I believe Microsoft owes us consumers a refund!
For my part, Outlook 2011 is utterly worthless without the ability to sync with my phone. I’m sticking with iCal and Mail. I want a real, full-featured version of Outlook.
First, MS pulls out (and then puts back) VB support. Now, we have a version of Outlook that won’t sync with mobile devices. Does Microsoft realize that business people actually use Macs? They aren’t dropping out minor functionality, but things that are critical to many users.
LOVE the new Outlook for Mac!!! I was waiting for this for quite some time. I was running Outlook on my PC side of Parallels and synced all my contacts/calendars to iTunes on the PC Parallel side. That was/is still probably the best work around.
I really hope you guys can come up with the proper Calendar/Contacts sync right away. Lots of angry customers! Not good.
e
Bought the software hoping to get a better e-mail program, but It doesn’t sync like Entourage does with my company’s exchange. Now I’m back to enourage. Thought excel would fix issues with reading files that work on the windows. It does not. Spent 2 hours on phone, transferred to 8 people with no success. Now I know why I’ve moved to Mac base.
In today’s age of syncronization between computer, phones and other mobile devises, to market an ‘Office’ suite without the ability to sync’ within today’s business systems is simply very poor management and a slap in the face to MAC users.
You have noticed there are how many million iPhones in use?
You have noticed the groundswell of iPads?
You have an office or two of your own, yes?
How is it then that this productd – delayed how many times for it’s release, now three years after Office 2008 – cannot sync’?
And “you are working hard on a solution?”
You’ve had many years to work hard but, apparently, not hard enough.
Whoever is the head of your Marketing Department – and your Engineering Department – are clearly not MAC users.
Really.
I can’t believe the facts and your spin on them.
Really …?
!
What a stunning failure with Outlook 2011. No syncing means no thinking. Clearly MS wants everyone to purchase an Exchange Account. I want my money back!
Please hurry with calendar support!
I have always liked the power of Entourage / Outlook over Apple Mail, but in the past couple years since cloud syncing became important, Microsoft’s offerings for Mac have been useless. I very much want to go back to organizing my email, contacts and calendar in one powerful app.
FYI I am a freelancer, so I don’t have access to an Exchange account. I use Google Apps to keep myself and a small group of coworkers organized. I am also a MobileMe user. Sync with MobileMe and Google Apps is my top priority.
Calendar sync is not an option. After loading 2011 for Mac, I am now scrambling to find a work-a-round so my off-site employees can view my calendar. Please put this as your very highest priority. It’s a fundamental business problem.
P.S. my employees have been using Google Calendar to view my calendar which I was able to sync with Outlook 2007 for windows.
Microsoft, are you listening?
The Mac Mojo team has posted nothing except for the generic response on October 26. Please provide some answers, including an honest time line on release of iCal and calDAV sync and support.
Thank you.
@Chip Thanks for your feedback! Unfortunately there is only PST import built into Outlook for Mac 2011 at this time. PST export functionality is not included.
So…this great new product that I spent $200 for does not support calendar sync with mobileme. Wow. You’ve wasted yet more of my time and money. How do you plan to make it up to me. 1 hour each way to the Apple store. $200. 10 hours trying to make it work. Wow. Answer me please!
I would like to thank the fine people who decided NOT to include the ability to sync with ical – you have convinced me to uninstall Office 2011 and never look back
I made the mistake of thinking that Microsoft might have made something worthwhile in the last 5 years – I was wrong, thanks!
Mike Mancuso, MCSE, MCSA, MCP (I would have been better off getting different certs)
Office 2011 installed nicely, tried to modify ribbon etc and that was a failure. Tried syncing and already knew that was a failure. I am now back to Thunderbird and will stay there until Outlook has been updated to reflect the needs and ways of a mac user. This has been a poor implementation of what is a great application on windows.
Word, Excel PPT are all nice upgrades but generally I should have waited until a useful Outlook was released.
Although I see I’m not the only one with this complaint of not syncing with iPhone I keep the pressure on. Therefore add me to the list of not buying Office 2011 until Outlook syncs with iCal and iPhone.
Entourage has indeed its problems but when finally running it syncs with MobileMe. I also prefer Entourage above iCal and Mail. Deciding to not continue Entourage is not nice to hear. To discover the replacement for it, Outlook, is only available in the business edition was a real PITA, but hey, something to live with.
But learning that Outlook does not sync with MobileMe and iPhone like Office 2008 could is unbelievable! What means the ‘for’ in Office for Mac??
As said, I really would buy 2011, even the business edition, because I like Entourage (and before Outlook for Mac) very much. But until the easy sync option for iPhone is realized I stay with the 2008 version!
Hope this helps speeding up things
Not that it matters–since clearly microsoft is not interested or concerned about feedback–but this is absolutely ridiculous. The amount of time and energy wasted on purchasing and trying to set up a product that is deficient (can’t sync calendars to the common user devices?) straight out of the box is appalling. In any other field they would call this malpractice.
Can only agree, office 2011 such a waste of time, without calendar sync to BB. My office, about 26 staff, cannot switch over to 2011. We are actually thinking of moving back form Mac to windows based machines, just because of the stable sync with our phones.
Am annoyed and disappointed that BB/MS, have not looked into this, especially in the Mac market, to keep us using MS software and BB phones….seems they do not care to lose more customers…
Get this frigging sync thing sorted!
So, we have incomplete syncing with no knowledge of when it will work properly. We have no extensibility of Outlook (the plug-ins being one of the very few reasons to use it instead of Apples products, and there won’t be any). The new versions of Office don’t work with the extensions used for any kind of “professional” usage (such as MathType and EndNote), since Microsoft didn’t send beta versions to these companies to make things compatible.
In other words, we now have Microsoft Office 2011 beta, not the real release. I look forward to the final version!
I have to agree with many of the above posts. I cannot understand how this “Office” suite could be released without a sync for the calendar. Though I appreciate all the work that went into this release it is basically useless without this feature. It looks like I will have to stick with Office 2008 until this is resolved.
Disappointing to say the least…..
Mike
I installed outlook for mac 2011 & innocently deleted my entourage link in iCal so i wouldn’t get duplications, before I realized I couldn’t sync outlook with iCal. I can’t believe it doesnt sync. A warning would have saved me the trouble.Now I have lost all my contacts from syncing with entourage, iCal, iPad, & iPhone. All used to run a business. Entourage doesn’t respond to an import from an earlier backup, the calendar stays blank. I can’t get iCal or entourage to acknowledge the outlook file so I can repopulate it. Now I am stuck with outlook, no sync & carrying around a paper copy of my appointments. A day wasted. Can anyone help?
It seems that every time Microsoft launches something new for the Mac they put all these new yet unnecessary features into it but take one very important function away, as if trying to suffocate Mac users and keep them on the PC world. In this case, it was syncing which just blows my mind. Microsoft doesn’t control the market the way they used to, and if you guys don’t figure out how to make all your consumers happy on either platform, you’re going to continue to lose business. The new Outlook looks great, but what the point of it if it just sits on my computer and doesn’t sync to my iPhone or iPad? There is no point.
Sync Services (or “the truth”) has never been very reliable with third party software. I’m not sure I’m going to use it if/when the function is added. That said, I can’t speak for others so I wonder if Outlook should have been released without Sync Services? I mean your typical user will want to sync calendars and contacts, no?
Don
How do I find ‘Sync Services’? Is it the same thing as Mobile Me?
Thanks for the blog entry about the cal sync missing. I’ve informed the others at my company to postpone their purchase until this feature is added. Also, could you tell us of any plans to support caldav? We use google apps at work and it would be great to use outlook.
Thanks
Before working on syncing with Calendar or devices, I think that you should first fix the important issue with Sync Services in Office 14.0.0.
Sync services grayed out and contacts don’t sync.
Please read Office support forums
http://www.officeformac.com/ms/ProductForums/Outlook/138/0
no sync services. no archive capabilities. no Office 2011! just as bad as losing VB in Office 2008.
my customers are so entrenched with Office that i’m stuck using Office 2010 via parallels.
I’m so bitterly disappointed that although Word, Powerpoint and Excel work fine, Outlook is incomplete. No personal information product in today’s world would ever be released without some form of sync – to give us contact sync is pointless – everyone running a business or working requires the ability to be able to send their calendar to their mobile otherwise it is just not useable.
I have been told that Outlook is first and foremost an exchange product but Microsoft have long been marketing to the small business/mobile warrior/solopreneur and even quote this version of Office as being a productivity tool. They could not be further from the truth and should be ashamed for releasing a product before it is completed.
I see that when you click on the ‘organize’ tab of calendar, tasks AND notes there is a ‘sync’ icon greyed out proving that yes it is in the plans but not available yet….
What disappoints me is the bad taste in the mouth it gives me… I sincerely WANT to recommend this software as a great productivity tool and yes no doubt it will be that eventually… the thing is the anger, disappointment and frustration I see in the comments not only here but all over the web make it impossible for me to recommend this product obviously for some months to come.
I am really shocked! Does no one of the developer team of Office 2011 use an iPhone? No synching possibility is an absolut no go! What shall I do now? Using iCal and Adressbook and Office 2011 by typing in parallel?
I will use iCal and Adressbook of Apple from now. No Question.
This is why no one likes you anymore Microsoft.
Very disturbing. There was no “phased approach” when I bought Office for Mac 2011 and there were no disclaimers that it was missing a key component. I did not learn about this until after I had transferred everything over to this program and then I had to go out on the web to see if I was the only one that was too dumb to figure out how to sync to the calendar in Outlook.
Don’t we at least deserve the courtesy of a date that you plan to have this rectified? Or … now that you have my money, is it just my tough luck that I assumed it was a complete software package?
This is an epic FAIL on two counts.
Firstly, who in their right mind would think that an email & calendaring app that can’t sync calendars with mobile devices was ready for release???
Secondly, those of us who live in the real world are expected to give our clients firm commitments on when their software will be ready. If I told my clients “We’re working on it, but we can’t tell you when it will be ready” then I’d be looking for new work. You guys need to develop some professionalism.
This sort of quality and delivery hole is precisely why Microsoft has the reputation you have. You may think the MacBU is a nicer, friendlier, better part of M$. But this just shows you’re stuck in the same out-of-touch state as the rest of the company.
Disappointment at first, then frustration, I’m ready to dump he Mac and go back to windows. I was holding on and using VMware to run outlook and connect to my exchange server. Now I find the wait has been worthless. I will never be able to connect outlook for mac because it doesn’t support my version of Exchange Server. And there isn’t even a way to sync with google. This is a huge waste of time and money. Shame on apple and Microsoft.
Maybe this issue isn’t important to me. I mean, I was an Entourage (of Office 2008 for Mac) user and struggled with it’s buggy sync services but got some useful results from it. However, now that I’m a dejected, dissatisfied Office 2011 for Mac Home & Student owner, I DON’T EVEN GET AN EMAIL / CALENDARING / CONTACT program any longer. So, yay!, I’m not affected by non sync services. Boy, aren’t I happy.
Ironic that one of the new selling points of office 2011 is to integrate calendar, contacts and email into the one package.
OK – Entourage may have been a bit rough in getting calendar and contacts to any smartphone but at least it did it.
I’ve just moved to 2011 and now have the sudden realisation there is no more calendar synchronisation.
This is just ridiculous. Did you think users would just turn a blind eye and forget that they had ever done this?
How many of you out there rely on having a calendar on your handset? Only way to do it now that I can figure is to enter them into iCal which I hate and then sync. No point to using the calendar in Outlook if you want to get those appointments onto your ‘phone.
They say a fix is being developed in a future update well how much longer is that going to take??
Even more ironic that I now have to use 2 calendars after shelling out my hard earned $279 for brand new software that was going to make my life easier!
I too need calendar syncing – I have the product but I’ll wait to install it. Is there a way to be notified when full sync capability is available?
Thanks – looking forward to it!
What IS the matter with you guys? JUST drag and drop your calendar items to iCal and sync with mobile me. It´s not the best solution but it works fine. Hopefully Microsoft will solve this ASAP.
All I want to know is when the release will be available. I wish I had known my calendar would not sync with my iphone before I purchased this software. Please make this right Microsoft and send out the release ASAP.
I cannot add anything else from the great comments here except this to those master minds at MS . .. get this #@%*!^ resolved as soon as possible.
Please add me to the Class Action.
Back to dry erase calendars and written journal back-ups.
I am so so sad. I WAS happy when I read reviews of 2011, sounded and looked great. I was impressed with outlook coming back and the touted total integration of contacts, candor & email. Installed test rancor a few days and really like it. Until today when I realized my calendar was completely blank!
When I accept meeting invites-poof– nothing there.
I am also an idiot in addition to geeing a sad person. I was so excited that I uninstalled 2008. Now I would have to reinstall that and hope nothing got screwed up in this process.
I just stopped the purchase of 2011 for my staff of 9 people.
If I coukd I would send my copy back I would. Just might actually as a protest– office 2011 is useless to me anyway.
I think this finally pushed me over the edge to move us completely away from office. Just when I finally started to think, maybe these guys aren’t too bad after all…..
Oh boy if we did business like this– I couldn’t agree more than with the previous commenter–what a laughable concept to tell clients, we’re working on it but can’t tell you when we’ll be done….
I also think thisfibalky pushed me over the edge
Having recommended that a client waited for the release of Office for Mac 2011 before buying his new computer, I look a complete idiot now that he can’t sync his calendar. I suppose I should have spent 2 or 3 hours googling for Outlook 2011 problems, but I didn’t because of MS’s press releases about all new Outlook being an improvement on Entourage etc. Do I now spend a few hours dragging and dropping individual calendar items into iCal (he has loads!) or lose the trust of a client that expects my recommendations to work. A word of advice MacBU team, each one of you should have a different email set up, not just Exchange – replicate your user base.
nvm – my prior post re iCal sync – should have read all posts first.
Rob
I long for the simple life.
Google Apps is great – emails and calendar in a cloud that I can access from any computer in the world … for free!
It works OK from my computer but I’d love mail, ical and contacts to be in one tidy package.
When I had installed Outlook I assumed that it was my lack of technical expertise that meant that I couldn’t sort all the syncing out. Is it me who is more technically competent than I thought or Microsoft who is less?
Thankfully (in a way) I can keep with the old mac programmes for the time being.
What I would ask is: please when you issue the update can Outlook sync with multiple accounts of google apps mail, calendar, contacts and tasks? And can it also sync with mobile phones please.
Simples! (kiss)
Outlook 2011 for Mac is a total step backwards from Entourage and many of the problems that existed with Entourage haven’t been addressed at all.
Where’s Resend and Redirect?
Why can’t I put an Inbox button on the toolbar???
Why can’t I browse folders to move an email??
Why can’t I archive off specific emails/folders??
Why does search not only look in the body of the email but why doesn’t it seem to work at all?
This plus many more grumbles…I’m moving back to Entourage because this really isn’t on…..
Já li muita coisa aqui, mas ainda não fiquei esclarecida, gostava de saber como posso utilizar o Sync Services e Outlook 2011 para sincronizar o meu outlook 2011 com o meu iphone. Terei que ter o mobileme? ou poderá ser directo!
Obrigada pelo esforço!
Teresa Faulhaber
I rarely chime in on blogs such as this but really feel as though I’ve been kicked in the b@!!s. I had such high hopes – an office product almost reasonably priced – that it made sense to purchase legitimately. Outlook for Mac – outlook was probably the only thing I missed since converting from a PC. That being said, everyone I know both pc and mac are using ical or google calendar. I couldn’t wait to get outlook installed, I fired it up, never for a minute thinking there would any issue connecting these fine programs together. 30 minutes of fumbling later – a very disturbing google search later and bamm! My whole reason for buying the suite – NOT THERE – wow. Sorry – I just felt I needed to vent – I don’t do it often – but this one is probably one of the biggest blunders I’ve ever known a huge software company to make – very disturbing. Very disturbing!
I’ve just wasted a week-end trying to get 2011 to sync my data from Entourage from Exchange Server. All I got for my money, time and effort was Error Code 17997. A bill is on its way to the UK HQ of Microsoft.
Jim McAllister
Hi there,
I have two Mac with Office 2011 and one has the option to turn on Sync Services but not the other one. Can you please advise if I am missing something somewhere ?
I tried many options without success.
Thanks
Stan
If you have a custom label for a phone number on say either Contacts in Mobile Me or Address Book contact master lists, then on sync, Outlook does not import even the phone number, let alone the custom label. Outlook’s standard telephone labels do not match Address Book/ Mobile Me standard labels and if there is any conflict, again syncing fails to import or update any phone numbers. This is not very clever and like the missing message resend button, should have been picked up at the Beta testing stage.
Wilson
The inability of outlook 2011 to sync with MobileMe baffles me. Inexcusable. Microsoft, a fix ought to be priority #1.
Unbelievable!!! If I had known Outlook would not support Calendar sync I would not have bothered buying it. Are we talking days, weeks or months for this upgrade? I notice Microsoft are notably absent from commenting on this blog.
We need an ETA when calendar sync issues are going to be fixed. This is ridiculous! I am so disappointed.
Hi All,
There are several comments asking about third party sync solutions that will work between Outlook for Mac 2011 and BlackBerry, iCal and other apps and devices.
I’d like to let everyone know that the Dec 15 update of PocketMac for BlackBerry will support Outlook 2011. Out of the box, it will support contact syncing. As Microsoft opens up other data types for syncing such as appointments, tasks and notes, PocketMac for BlackBerry will be updated to include those as well.
See http://www.pocketmac.net for more info if interested.
@Caroline Clohesy, @LKG @Mary – Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your patience. Please report your technical inquiries here while we work out these issues: http://bit.ly/bejZKr. Here is some more info from our blog about Sync Services: http://blog.officeformac.com/the-download-on-sync-services-in-office-for-mac-2011/
What is the best way top remove duplicate contacts in my outlook 2011??
Thanks in advance for the help.
LT
Hi,
I can´t sync my Blacberry with the Office for Mac 2011, only the contacts and not everything on them. Outlook restarts a lot. Are you going to fix this problems?
Thanks,
Hi. Do you know if it’s possible to sync Outlook 2011 with sharepoint calendars?
I’m trying to add an entry with: stssync://sts/?ver=1.1&type=calendar&cmd=add-folder&base-url=https://….. but outlook 2011 isn’t taking it. Works fine in outlook for windows…
No calendar sync is a deal breaker to upgrade to 2011. Will stick with 2008 until that’s fixed.
Turns out that for Australian MAC users of MYOB that you can’t send email direct from MYOB via Outlook. Entourage supported that functionality, Outlook does not. I just don’t understand how Microsoft (which is actually MacroHard to deal with) gets away with releasing products which do less than previously.
I am going to plead my case at the AppleStore and see if I can get my money back. Without Calendar sync and now MYOB problems, my simple office processes have flown out the window. Thanks for nothing Microsoft.
Hi!
I upgraded from MS Office 2011 Home&Student for Mac to Home&Business a couple of days ago, just to get the new Outlook2011. Outlook has always been my favourite mail client on PC because of the possibillity to sync contacts and calendar. When I transfered to Mac I started using Entourage in MS Office 2008, witch also had the same sync possibillities. You can just imagine the dissapointment when I today discovered that the new Office 2011 does NOT include sync with iCal on Mac, which also means no sync with my smartphone. I just wasted a lot of money on a product I can´t use. Thanx alot.
You need to fix this NOW!!!!
Where can I find the Third Party plug in to sync Outlook with my Blackberry?
The “download” on calendar sync is there is none.
ETA? Anyone? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? anything?
BTW very happy with everything else. This is a show stopper.
If you’re on an exchange server does that mean you can sync calendar?
It is one thing to release a product and say “hey, we didn’t get sync working the way we want but we had shipping commitments and will come back to this.” I can appreciate the desire to deliver quality and I can appreciate that there are factors the MS Outlook program team can’t control. I mean, delaying shipment for one feature isn’t a smart move.
I do think MS was being coy about leaking information about the missing sync capabilities. While I don’t agree, it is obvious why they would downplay this lack of support. I don’t know why any of us are surprised. Angry? sure! Surprised? Not at all.
What has brought me to the point of considering a complete removal of MS-everything on my Mac is that they won’t make any commitments on WHEN this issue will be fixed. In looking through the forums on 2008 issues I encountered, I get the overwhelming sense that there is a good possibility this thing won’t be fixed for quite some time. There is an underlying precedent for ignoring a certain segment of the user community. Likely folks like me (non-Exchange users with mobile smart phones) are a minority.
My point is that there is an unwillingness to commit on when a critical (even if it is not earth shattering) feature will be fixed/added. Therefore, I am unwilling to commit my resources and money to MS moving forward. Now I have to find a replacement E-mail package or go to Mail.app + BusyCal. That latter option looks better everyday.
Oh well, I am no longer a MS advocate. It only took 8 months.
Thanks for the memories.
Microsoft you have failed once again! Sync function is a KEY for Mac users.
1) Props for Microsoft for leaving these agree comments on here for others to see
2) You can sync iCal through iTunes to your iPhone. I do this right now, but have to put new appointments in my Outlook Calendar and then iCal too. Redundant, but a simple cut and paste = SOLUTION
3) You can do the same with Address Book and iTunes but you’ll have to enter everything into Address Book
4) HURRY UP MICROSOFT ENGINEERS!!! Pleeeeease.
You couldn’t say the Sync was half-baked when marketing Mac Office or it would hurt revenue. Now that people know, it’s probably hurting your revenue.
I’m sure by the comments on here, you can see that this is TOP PRIORITY to get your revenues back.
I love Outlook/Office for Mac. Just give us a Target Date if it’s a month out, few months out, one year out. Just for being considerate. Should we find a temporary solution like I mentioned above and use other programs OR are you guys like a month out on this???
Thanks!
e
1) Props for Microsoft for leaving these angry comments on here for others to see
2) You can sync iCal through iTunes to your iPhone. I do this right now, but have to put new appointments in my Outlook Calendar and then iCal too. Redundant, but a simple cut and paste = SOLUTION
3) You can do the same with Address Book and iTunes but you’ll have to enter everything into Address Book
4) HURRY UP MICROSOFT ENGINEERS!!! Pleeeeease.
You couldn’t say the Sync was half-baked when marketing Mac Office or it would hurt revenue. Now that people know, it’s probably hurting your revenue.
I’m sure by the comments on here, you can see that this is TOP PRIORITY to get your revenues back.
I love Outlook/Office for Mac. Just give us a Target Date if it’s a month out, few months out, one year out. Just for being considerate. Should we find a temporary solution like I mentioned above and use other programs OR are you guys like a month out on this???
Thanks!
e
You should be ashamed to sell office 2011 for mac with no sync for email or almost anything with iphone!!!
I have office2011… i also have a Samsung i9000 android… now there seem no way to sync directly contacts and agenda from my MACosx… frustrating… for the moment the application is very non-usefull for me as direct result. Please fix ASAP, as right now i am recommending people to not use office2011.
Any updates on syncing Office 2011 with iCal and Address book?
MS really should have put a warning label on the product indicating that they shipped it incomplete, without a core function in the Outlook platform. This is a serious problem for me, and I’m sure for many others.
Would they have released Outlook without the ability to attach files in emails? And then just say, “Sorry guys, it’s coming eventually”?
At least give us a timeframe — and access to whatever buggy “beta” version of calendar sync is in development, if it is in fact in development.
Microsoft is using the most unreasonable logic any company could try to use to “fool” their users …. taking a phased approach … means your coding team is falling short…. you are completely out of touch with your customers … you value revenue over quality. This product should have never been released in it’s current state. You have done more harm to the Office MAC relationship with this release than you could ever imagine. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!!! ITS OBVIOUS THERE IS NO THINKING GOING ON IN IN REDMOND ON THIS ONE!!!!! Get sync services for Calendar right NOW!!!! This whole situation is more than crazy and completely unacceptable.
Very simply … you should be running to give a 100% refund to ALL of your early adopters. Lack of Calendar sync support is ridiculous and the release of this product in it’s current state is a WASTE of all of our investments. You have done more harm to your reputation than you can imagine. DOES ANYONE AT MICROSOFT READ THE CUSTOMER COMMENTS IN THIS “CUSTOMER” BLOG —- You do not have ONE happy customer …. not sure how you measure satisfaction … but how ever it is …. you have to recognize you loose in this one. SOMEONE OR LOTS OF PEOPLE SHOULD BE FIRED FOR THIS DECISION.
MICROSOFT needs to act like any RESPONSIBLE company to it’s clients and customers and be forthcoming in making COMMITMENTS on it project deliverables like Calendar sync. EVERY project team has a deliverable date — WHY is it that MICROSOFT is unwilling to provide this information to it’s “CUSTOMERS” who have forked over $100′s of dollars for an INCOMPLETE AND INADEQUATE PRODUCT. AT LEAST ACT LIKE A COMPANY THAT BELIEVES IN CUSTOMER SERVICE … even if you obviously don’t.
Office 2011 for Mac is NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME if it doesn’t have calendar sync. C’mon, everybody on Mac used iCal. Without calendar/task sync, it’s just a very expensive email client.
Shame on you Microsoft
Releasing Outlook without the ability to sync with iCal is what could be called mocking. If you buy MS Office for Mac 2011, you get this absolutely awesome program that had been eagerly awaited by everyone, because it’s one of the very few things that Microsoft actually does well (or used to anyways), and in the end, it’s just useless…We should be used to Microsoft’s inefficiency, but really? No calendar syncing with iCal? How do I sync my iPhone? I don’t? Rubbish…
TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE THAT OUTLOOK FOR MAC DOESN’T SYNC WITH MOBILEME/IPHONE. I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!!
I basically never write back to posts such as this – cause there is no point anyway -, but it’ s just such a huge disappointment and a big slap in the face for everybody who BOUGHT the software like I did.
“Expected resolution for iPhone or iCal Sync in first half of 2011″.
First half…half a YEAR after the release…! It was the key-point why I purchased the product to sync my Outlook Calender with my mobile phone…cause, well it may come as a surprise, but I use Outlook actually for WORK. Well I USED to do that with Entourage…
Half a year…then the new iPad, iPhone 5 and also OS X Lion comes out… In computer terms, half a year is just half a year too late…
The argument “to make it right” is just a joke to shut us up. Do you really think it will be “right” half a year from now..? I don’t need “right”…give us the Entourage “right” in Outlook, in the meantime you can perfect the whole thing as long as you wish, I don’t care. But we need ANYTHING, something, to just sync our calendars with iCal or iPhones.
I agree with everybody here. There should be a HUGE sticker on the box: NO ICAL SYNC, NO CALENDAR SUPPORT FOR IPHONE! It could have saved me some big money.
As an other poster said earlier: “Microsoft always takes the most important features out”. If that would be a car company, they would sell cars without a steering wheel. The car is perfect, shiny, new, but the thing you really NEED to use it, is missing…
Microsoft, half a year is half a year too late…please, DO! something. It is my only complaint. But without the sync, it’s just useless…
P.S.
“Make things right”. That was the main reason I switched to the mac. I know they are not perfect either, but always when I give Microsoft a new chance to show how “right” they are, they leave me with that bad and ugly taste. It’s always…almost perfect, sooo close, but it never really IS. I never once in my Windows days had that satisfying feeling that apple users know that it “just works”. Always there is something…take that not from an Apple fanboy, but from a longtime Windows user…
There are only, very obvious, complaints in this thread since it started over a month ago in october.
Where is the official response from Microsoft ?
How can you let these complaints grow and grow and not offer a solution to a fair question, or for that matter, a clear answer on Microsofts intentions and time scheme for the solution.
Microsoft; don’t let yourself be mocked around ! You did a great job with the update to office 2011. Make a quick and solid solution for the syncing problem and you’ll be the hero.
Everybody will be willing to switch from entourage to outlook. You just have to solve a small issue……. Why wait and let your users be your ambassadors instead of charging at your company. Do something and respond please.
I recently purchased a MacBook Pro because I was so sick of the problems in Windows even Windows-7. I just wanted something that worked did what it said on the tin which in my opinion the Mac does that’s why more people are moving across to Mac. I work a a therapist and a trainer I have built a great reputation why because I do what I say I can period.
I thought wrongly that the syncing between my iPhone & Outlook would automatic as is it in Windows-7
)
It’s a poor show that one of the most important functions is left out. Come on it can be that difficult can it?
When I work with international athletes one of the things that I say to them is – You can either produce results or excuses which is it going to be? and what do you think I want to hear about?
Come on produce results that’s all anyone here wants to hear thanks
I bought MS Office 2011 without knowledge there was an issue regarding the Sync Services. I purchased 4 licenses, installed all at the same time (for my business) and bam! found out that there was no more sync services for calendars. What a slap in the face but so typical for MS. They never let me down when it comes to putting out stupid and useless software.
I am contact Amazon.co tomorrow for an RMA – sending the software back as it was sold under false pretenses and we are moving to Google Apps premier.
MS appears to think they are the only provider on the block with an arrogant attitude of we’ll deliver when we feel like it. This was my last tie to any MS products, I am done!! I will not purchase nor will I allow any MS products to be purchased for my company again.
We are starting a Twitter campaign about this, if Microsoft wants to diddle around with us on the calender issue then it’s time to get he word out.
Twitter
#fixsyncservicesnow
Dam…add sync services to MS Outlook. It’s really an evil behavior release a product like this without a complete Sync Service feature.
It’s again clear to me why I decided to switch to Mac, it’s impossible believe in You (Microsoft). You treat you customers as stupid people. I can’t believe that Developers in MS agree to do that. REally a big thank you !
Mid 2011 to solve this issue…it’s a crime ! Microsoft you’re not a serious company continue to play with registry file….
Not that Microsoft ever reads or cares about what their customer base says… so this is more venting than trying to convey a message to Microsoft – they are just inept, don’t care, have not done their homework or whatever. I too was duped into buying Office 2011. I had two main reasons for purchasing it. One was that Entourage was so archaic in not being able to reply or forward even basic HTML emails. The plain-text responses to HTML emails brought the usual chuckle when I explained that I was using Office on Mac. My iPhone email was lightyears ahead of Entourage. The second reason was that synching was so unreliable, it HAD to be an improvement. W R O N G !! After just spending half a day trying to figure out why thousands of contacts disappeared on my iPhone (my contact list is now empty), I decided to do more research and came across this blog. I thought that calendar synching must have been something that * I * was doing wrong. Now come to find out… it’s not even a feature. I am seriously considering reverting back to running Outlook on my XP virtual machine with Parallels. It’s a shame we don’t have more options (Steve Jobs are you listening?) If I had a reasonable Apple-produced alternative to Outlook, Microsoft would forever be in the rear-view mirror… and it would probably be for hundreds of thousands of customers as well.
I hear you, fellow sufferers. I can’t get away with my old Office 2004 any longer, and the crappy sync between iCal and Entourage and MobileMe was always a huge pain. So currently I use iCal and iTouch for calendar, but Entourage for email – an unhappy compromise. IF Microsoft really do deliver a bomb-proof sync to iCal, I will be a very happy bunny. But honestly – why wasn’t it in the box from the beginning?
Another (begging) vote for better sync ASAP… google apps cal, ical, mobileme, etc…
I’d like to share my point of view with Microsoft – maybe others have also similar one.
When I buy office suite I try to think why I need it, for what work. Most of us do that. After couple of months of usage I can state precisely which applications I need most.
So far Office 2008 I used as follows (roughly)
Entourage – approx usage time 60%
Word – approx usage time 20%
Excel – approx usage time 20%
Powerpoint – approx usage time 0%
Of course others may use these application in a different way, but I hope at least you understand that having Outlook without calendar synch is like not having mail/calendar application in Office 2011 suite at all.
Now I still use Entourage 2008 cause it has no problem with iCal synching.
So for customers who already paid the price (as me myself), who are now stuck with not working Outlook it is not enough to say
“We will be adding additional support in the coming months including calendar.”
IT’S LIKE LAUGHING AT US (all Office 2011 customers).
We must be informed about your exact plans either in specific months or quarters or years. Cause if you state that it will be available in a year or so then I will reconsider giving you this non-working suite back as I feel being really cheated now.
Appologies, rebates and calendar synch service is really welcome.
Many thanks for all your comments here, I was just about to purchase Office 2011 for Mac for my business and should have realised, having been an experienced user of MSoft products over the years, before converting to Macs, that anything to do with MSoft is complicated, intrusive to your registry and normally FAILS. I will stick with my IWORK.
VERY GRATEFUL FOR POSTS, THANK YOU.
I am HUGELY disappointed!
I bought and installed Office for Mac 2011 exactly BECAUSE it now had Outlook. My work depends on being able to synchronize schedules on my Mac (home office), PC laptop (most of the client engagements), iPad (road tool) and iPhone (communications). The omission of synchronization capabilities is absurd, a mockery of most of the user community.
Still debating with myself if I should return the package and reinstall Office 2008.
Sharing similar sentiments here. Please oh please finish that sync so I can just use my calendar and let it sync to my iphone. You jumped the gun on this launch and I was given the impression it worked.
Boo
Shocking that I cannot sync Outlook 2011 calendar to my ipad or iphone 4. When will this be enabled? I’m reluctant to dump Outlook, but this is a major issue.
When will sync service for outlook 2011 and iPhone work with calendar? Expected by March 2011? Feb 2011. Every day is killing me.
As a seasoned Exchange Engineer and Sr. Principal Consultant for email related products I love the new Office 2011 for POP mail. I hope they can use the mobile me process to sync Outlook Contacts, Calendar Items, Notes, and To Do items with the iPhone without using iTunes. I do not like the built in iCal and Mail programs from Apple because they lack features that Office has. If you have ever used Outlook Express you know what I am talking about.
My question: Where can we subscribe to Office 2011 updates so we know when the new features will be available? And, is there a RSS feed for this forum?
Any chance Outlook 2011 for Mac will be compatible with exchange 2003? I am dying… my office runs on Exchange 2003, which works for all the PC users in my company, but as the only Mac user, I am stuck with IMAP interface for email. Any hope for me?
In addition to NO SYNC for calendar, Outlook crashes every 15 minutes and take 45 minutes to rebuild the database, in spite of loading the upgrade. Great productivity, huh? Microsoft programmers got their priorities wrong spending time on unless things like ribbons and not nearly enough on essential consumer needs. I hope this get fixed STAT because I will not deploy for my company until it is and right now we looking for a better option – when we make a decision we’ll forget about Office 2011. Clock is running!
Wow! So disappointed that I can not sync to iCal from Outlook 2011. Just upgraded today from Entourage. What a mistake. Guess I will have to wait until some undisclosed time in the future for it to work. Way to go Microsoft.
Jeffrey White
Founder of Flash Card Maker Pro
Android Apps Developer
Flashcard Enthusiast
will outlook for mac 2011 sync calendars to iphone via direct USB connection with itunes?
I’m so glad that I only trialled Outlook 2011. Without sync services to an iphone calendar its a definite no sale for me and pretty much most people I would have thought. I am honesty extremely disappointed (but not that surprised) that MS would release a product that does not have such a fundamental feature included from day one. The promises that it is being worked on and will be free in due course are not good enough.
For everyone information there are two other things that I experienced whilst trialling that should be addressed by MS. Firstly importing email messages from folders from Entourage does not appear to fully work. All of the recent messages (about the last 18 months) appear to come across but messages that pre date this period are ignored.
Transferring mail messages but to Entourage is painful. The only manner I seemed to be able to achieve was to sent everything by email. There should be a better method that this. I’m glad I only trialled it for a limited time.
Fix up all the errors and include a sync for Calendars to iphone. Don’t sell (or a least try to) sell incomplete products unless you actively do not want to retain customers. MS’s actions only helps everyone to justify looking for an alternative, one of the main reasons why I gave up on PCs after the Vista operating system issues.
+1 on just about everything above. off to join the twitter campaign…
As per the hundreds of above comments I am also shocked there is no sync with iCal / iTunes / iPhone… AND I have also experienced problems with Outlook crashing 3-5 times a day and having to rebuild a database… so far it’s looking worse than Entourage was! Shocking.
I have been buying various Microsoft software for over 20 years and manage the creation of complex trading software for investment banks. Whoever authorised this release has made a big mistake, very untypical of Microsoft! Please inform us of a expected release date for the free patch. Apart from the above, the other apps are excellent (probably better than my PC/Windows versions) and it all looks very slick.
Funny that the only software that ever crashes on my Mac is Microsoft software though.
Why no Sync? You should have put this caveat on the cover of the package. Everyone was expecting it.
I am HUGELY disappointed!
The omission of synchronization capabilities is absurd.
The only thing that doesn’t work on my MBP and MB Air is my ability to sync my calendar with my iPhone 4 and other apps. Most of us moved from the PC to the Mac to avoid these frustrations. This is reminiscent of finding drivers for printers etc during my Windows days. Here I am, two days before Christmas wasting an hour or so trying to perform, what should be, a perfectly simple and well understood process as we close out 2010! I really can’t believe I can’t sync a calendar!!
Dear Microsoft, a work around, any temporary workaround, with the release of this software should have been top priority. Asking your customers to purchase this software under the impression that it can do the minimum required, then finding it can’t, means that other elegant solutions will take your market (and the Apple market is experiencing exponential growth).
After this opinion, I will shut down Outlook, delete the data file, and never open it again. I will, of course, continue to use Microsoft products, but only until I find better and more elegant Apple solutions, and with iWork ’11 making its debut soon, I should be able to regain that comfortable, warm feeling that everything will just work again as it should.
Merry Christmas to All, I hope everyones 2011 is spectacular!
@mgrimm We focused on syncing contacts since that is the most requested feature by customers. We’re currently looking into supporting more via sync services, and are working on an update for in the first half of 2011. Thanks for your patience: http://blog.officeformac.com/outlook-for-mac-and-your-calendars/
I agree 100% with the above comments regarding missing sync option. The only way to make Microsoft solve the issue is not to buy. Outlook without this key element is for no good. Saying that they are looking for an update in the 1st half of 2011 means the never thought about doing it before while developing office 2011.
I can’t believe that Bill Gates must have lost control of his company. My heart tells me that if he had known that his company knowingly put out a product that didn’t work, he would have stopped it. lack of sync in a new product in this day and age is unheard of. Please have Bill call me. You guys have my phone number.
Steve
Wow, I upgraded to Outlook: mac 2011 a few days ago and have just come to wonder why my new appointments and meeting requests weren’t showing up. Sigh. It’s pretty messed-up to have released this version WITHOUT a MobileMe sync feature. Has anyone just decided to go back to Entourage 2008 in order to work around this omission?
J
This is most disappointing news.
I’m glad I am on a trial period with Outlook for Mac 2011 because now I know I won’t be purchasing it.
In addition, who dreamt that buying Office for Mac 2011 would need a separate purchase to use Outlook!
This whole mac/pc thing that was supposed to be happening really isn’t. I”m not sure if I’m sorry I bought the iMac or sorry I didn’t buy it years ago and then go to an iphone.
I really don’t like entourage or Mac mail… any other options?
Jean
Would it be possible to also sync Outlook notes with the notes app that comes standard with iPhone? Or, alternatively, to create an Outlook Notes app for the iPhone that enables you to view outlook notes on the iPhone? It would be great to see something similar for Outlook tasks, too!
I have to agree with every one. More response for MS would be great. Give us something!!!
MS never should have shipped without the ability to sync calendar events. This is a regression of their known functionality and as such all users dreamed they would never make such a bad decision. This is a perfect example of how “business” ruins what should be good software. I can imagine the software team didn’t want to ship without this, but the MBAs said “must have revenue!”
Sad, sad, sad.
Ridiculous that you cant sync Outlook 2011 Calendar with iCal or Mobil Me! Whats the point in providing any sync services at all. this was a major fopa by Microsoft. Once again all the more reason why i switched from a PC to a MAC!
this is pathetic. the article say over the next few months. that was october and we havent heatf a peep on the issue.
i regret getting this rubbish. how am i meant to work. outlook 2011 does not = efficiency!
Hey Microsoft, you can take your sweat time to make sure you have it right.
I have switched from Entourage to the native Mac applications (Mail, iCal, and Contacts) and these applications synchronize perfectly with Mobile Me. Also, there are some pretty nice features that Microsoft doesn’t have, such as iCal, when you set an appointment, we can set multiple notifications for the same event. For instance if I want to be notified of an appointment 1 day before, and as well 1 hour before (a feature I’ve often wished I had) so the switch went pretty good for me. As well I’m starting to think that even when you get it offered that something will still bugger up, like duplicate appointments after synch.
I have also made the switch to iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Key Note). Key note has a cool integration with iPhone. iPhone can connect with keynote, and be used as a presenter remote controls, allowing iPhone to control movements to the next page and back, and can also display the presenter notes right on the iPhone.
Should have just used the Apple Apps right from the start I guess. I’m guessing this is the end of me and Microsoft !!!
I concur with many of the comments above with regard to syncing being a mandatory feature for Mac business users. Fortunately I didn’t rush in and buy Office 2011 as it is a work in progress.
In fairness the name of the product says it all – Office 2011. When Outlook has grown up into a business class application and includes comprehensive and elegant syncing as well the Project Centre from Entourage (a fantastic way to manage large scale RFP syndicate bids) I will upgrade.
While iWork is a nice suite of competing office apps, it isn’t yet as functionally deep or mature as MS Office. I’d say it’s at least 2 years away to be even close.
Note that Apple hasn’t exactly done the right thing either – for all Mac tragics (like me)…the latest Mobileme Calendar upgrade doesn’t support syncing with Entourage!! You have to be joking! Apple keep pointing to functions that support consumer scenarios (dealing with friends and family). Calendars are more likely used by business professionals not soccer mums and kids setting up ‘an event’ (how quaintly out of touch is that?). We use Facebook for that stuff nowadays!!
Really… how hard would it have been to do the use case and workflow for a professional end user and plan to deliver that in Release 1.0? Shame on the business sponsors and marketing departments of both companies for these omissions.
I hope mid 2011 sees things sorted for both offerings from MS and Apple respectively.
Apples failure to mention anything about this problem when I asked about windows compatibility , and then Microsoft’s failure to clearly highlight this issue before purchase is totally disgrageful. I feel like I’ve been mugged. One for Trading Standards I think.
Can someone give an eta for microsoft snycing calendar with outlook? Also, calendar does work but it on steroids and I frequently have to remove duplicates.
This is crap. Why do Microsoft invite people to comment, and then never return with an answer? This sync-story is an epic bummer!
One thing I’ve missed is the ability to IMPORT Calendar/Appts as a CSV file. Due to security restraints related to e-mail, I wasn’t able to synch up my ofice Window’s Outlook Calendar to my home Window’s Outlook Calendar. The workaround I used was to export my office Outlook calendar to CSV format and import it to my home Outlook calendar. This worked like a charm. However, there seems to be no way for the MAC Outlook 2011 to Import this same CSV file. I’m not sure if you’re considering this as part of the overall synch issue fix, but it would be great if you would consider it. Other than this I have to say “I LOVE MS Office for MAC!”. I’m hoping MS will consider developing other Office applications for the MAC like Visio and OneNote.
@Tom Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good workaround there. Let our developers know that you’d like your CSV files to be transferrable across both platforms here: http://bit.ly/i0cWJy. We’re so happy to hear that the rest of the suite is treating you well. Thanks for your feedback.
Like every one else my frustration is growing I bought this software because I want a all in one solution for my cal, e-mail and contacts and lets faces it every mac user with the exception of a handful of people are ex windows users. We can’t deny that outlook is a program that can’t be beat. I am very glad to see it back of the Mac platform and I can’t wait until its on pare with the Windows version.
Meaning the sync feature. Hopefully the update comes real soon that adds the sync feature.
Just bought a new 27 inch imac with office 2011 installed — just like everyone else, I expected seamless syncing with gmail, android and the ical —
yes, very disappointed — not sure what to do now …….
I too frequently have to remove duplicates
I scanned this but didn’t see a timeline for Outlook Calendar Sync 
As a user of Outlook for 11 years I am painfully disappointed. I waited to buy a Mac until Outlook for Mac was available – I guess I am one of the thousands of suckers out there.
Outlook was the only reason for buying Office 2011, the other programs get used less than 5% of the time. You cannot beat it when it works.
I have just found out that we will have to wait, maybe until June of this year to get an update to allow calendar sync. even then, you may have to purchase 3rd party software to ensure it works with you mobile phone, if its not an iPhone.
Lets face, probably the most important piece of software in the package, probably the main reason why people upgraded/bought 2011 in the first place – and yet again they could not get the basics right – I am so happy that the rest of my software is purely Mac based
Hello – just checking to see if any updates for sync services for Outlook 2011 and iCal or directly to MobileMe have been released since this original post. I just upgraded and I am very happy with the new product however I live by my calendar and need it to sync to my iPhone.
Wow – I can understand why so many of you are angry. It is crazy that they rolled out Outlook 2011 for Mac and didn’t think first about the unique needs of their faithful Mac users.
On the flip side, I can’t believe how many of you were clueless about what was expected when they rolled out Mac Office 2011. ALL of the early reviews clearly spelled out that sync services would not be supported. Microsoft was pretty up front on that as well – especially on the blog.
Next time you should do more homework before making the decision to upgrade.
@Katherine Sorry, we don’t have anything new to share. We are expecting a syncing update in the first half of this year and will let you know as soon as we have news.
EPIC FAIL. Highly disappointed, been using this software for years on both platforms and I couldn’t be more disappointed in what is still missing on this release in all 4 programs, not to mention that its completely missing other important programs and functionality. Good thing it has Remote Desktop Connection because I still have to use it, big bummer.
that is just ridiculous! Microsoft KNOWS that they are building a product that deliberately leaves out, in my eyes, one of the most important factors of what Outlook does. Are you kidding me???? You can’t sync your computer and your mobile devices?……Really?
That is not poor planning, that is very precise, deliberate, deception of the customer under the guise of,” it’s coming out soon, sorry we didn’t have it, But we have it with our PC side though”. come on MS, enough is enough!
Would it be possible to be put on an email list notifying the moment the iphone calendar sync becomes available. Like so many others I bought Office for mac principally for Outlook and am very frustrated that the sync does not work. I don’t agree with Jay that it was easy to see the problem. I didn’t read reviews or blogs; i simply trusted Microsoft and Apple to sell a product that worked. No one in the Apple store where I purchased my first mac warned me of the problem; I was simply told everything would be fine. And that was not an unreasonable assumption; after all, my iphone synced perfectly with Outlook running on my old PC. Having upgraded from a PC to a Mac, I have the same application (Outlook) running on hardware now made by the same manufacturer (Apple) and syncing no longer works.
Both Apple and Microsoft have acted very shoddily in this whole matter.
… this is ridicolous business too!
This salami tactics/piecemeal approach is destroying the expensive build up image of MS products for Mac.
You made a mistake to deliver a piece of software that is not very well developed – that is one thing. The other thing is, that you are not able to give us something like a road map, when and how you will solve the evidence of incapacity?
Sorry guys – normally you could do better!
Regards,
M.S.
Will there be an option to create an “internet calendar” like the PC version has? Also whats the ETA on the syncing?
I’m a new MAC user and had no idea I would need to check on what the MAC Office 2011 release would or wouldn’t be able to do. What a disappointment to find that calendars won’t sync until “the first half of the year”. Does that mean soon or June or later? I made two mistakes – #1 trusting that Microsoft would not release a product that wasn’t fully functional and #2 trusting Apple to not sell a product in their stores that had critical features that didn’t work. Now I’m a disappointed Microsoft and Apple customer. Sad state of affairs for both companies not putting their customers first.
Give us an update on how far you´ve come MS!
If calendar ical sync is in development then there must be milestones set already. What are these milestones? I bought Office 2011 for Outlook and now I’m looking to move to Google calendar because I NEED ical support fro my mobile devices. We use Highrise and need to sync on the fly …
Otherwise Office 2011 is great !
Thanks
David
@Jay S I don’t remember seeing that anywhere.
I cannot believe I can’t sync my calendar.
At first I felt “clueless” because I didn’t do my homework before spending my hard earned money on the new Office: mac 2011. But then I thought, shouldn’t MS and Apple think about this stuff? Syncing between devices is a given these days and I truly can’t believe that a calendar sync is not a standard feature with this product.
I made the switch to Apple in 2001 and have been very happy. And I was looking forward to using Outlook again–instead of Entourage. Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed that something so basic, like syncing my calendar, would not be possible.
This makes Apple look ridiculous.
I have made the unfortunate mistake of starting to use MS outlook 2011. It is a huge disappointment and just goes to panic and desperation the MS software and product managers must feel to be able to say this is a quality product and worth the $200 we all paid. — but as much as I want to; I’m not here to talk about that stupid move…
My question is how do I undo it. I want to go back to mac mail and get outlook off my mac. How do I convert the pst file with all the folders back into my happy mac os world?
Thanks,
Adam
No progress on syncing Outlook 2011 Calendar with iTunes/iPhone, some 4 months down the road. What a waste to have purchased this “upgrade.” Headed back to my 2004 version of Entourage….
@Adam McCranie For Mac Mail support visit Apple.com.
Seriously MS – FAIL
I just pulled the trigger on a complete office upgrade only to discover that I am an idiot for believing in your marketing…
I made the mistake to expect “Outlook” when I bought “Office 2011″. As a MAC user also have an iPhone and I can’t believe there is not even a possibility to sync my calendars. Quite apart from a lot of other features I would expect when a product is called “Outlook”.
You did a good job raising our expectations. But you failed in fulfilling them. Completely. Sorry guys.
How about now??!!
Come on…really? What a fail. How can a new release not include and improve on previous features??
Timeline?!
MASSIVE FAIL. What I really don’t appreciate is the lack of communication. Can anyone share how long it will take – at least respond by saying we are going to treat you like mushrooms by burying you in dung and keeping you in the dark.
ANY FEEDBACK AT ALL ON RELEASE OF SYNC SERVICES??!!!!!
Store agreed to a refund on Office 2011. When Outlook is really finished I will look at it again. Useless without sync for iPhone.
We just bought Office 2011 for Mac, naturally assuming that we could sync with Google Apps calendar etc.
Guys. This needs to work. Yesterday. Seriously.
I was turned off from MS products by Vista and Windows 7, I went to Mac as a direct result. I bought MS 2011 for Mac to take what I knew with me. I now found I am still hampered by Microsoft with the lack of sync with Mobile Me (which I used on my PCs).
Your omissions are turning professionals away from your company.
I will probably now drop MS2011 for Mac soon.
Your company does not seem to be paying attention to consumers.
Is Microsoft taking one step forward and two steps back?
Apple has been delighting the world with elegant, functional, solid-state and simple innovation for PC users both with hardware and software engineering. For some reason Microsoft can’t seem to integrate itself with that model. Why create a massive hole/disruption in user experience? You know you could have avoided this.
We rely on Office. We rely on our iPhones.
Bad move. You’ll lose (us) in the end.
I still see that Microsoft has it’s HEAD in the sand. I keep checking back to see when we will be able to actually use our very expensive piece of software that we were basically DUPED into buying. Right now it just takes up hard drive space. They have our HUNDREDS of dollars for a deceptively advertised program and we have a useless piece of cr*p supposedly representing software.
And as usual the NO COMMENT, NON COMMITTING responses continue. I assume that magazines are being paid off by MS because I keep seeing reviews that in no way communicate the lack of sync. The deception never ends.
Will never buy a piece of Microsoft software again!!!!!! All you had to do was be honest and communicate with your customers — seems like ANY project team worth it’s salt would have a REAL timeline.
Continue to be completely disgusted !!!
Can Mac Outlook sync e-mall rules with MobileMe? From what I have seen thus far, that doesn’t appear to be the case. If anyone has information to the contrary, I would be very happy.
Come on Microsoft. Please give us a timetable. in October you said that sync would work by the “middle of 2011″. Less than five months to go. Are you still sticking with that forecast?? Surely someone knows the answer to this question? Your cheated customers want to know.
What’s going on???????
Outlook is useless without being able to sync calendars with Iphone..
How about getting your act together for once and give the people what they want and need.
@Barry Farrington Outlook does sync with MobileMe e-mail accounts through IMAP. You can find out more on importing information into Outlook here: http://mac2.microsoft.com/help/office/14/en-us/messenger/item/bd832e03-b1c0-4923-8969-073da5f52757
How about Microsoft cut back on the tabletpalooza and smartphonepalooza and find a way to make an Outlook 2011 calendar sync? Maybe Bungie can help you guys out?
Obviously the lion’s share of Outlook 2011 criticism has been aimed at its inability to SYNC CALENDAR EVENTS WITH A MOBILE PHONE. I just scanned the link you provided above, and see no indication that Outlook 2011 is capable of accomplishing that feat. It would overjoy me to be proven wrong…
Don’t forget to ensure that Notes can be syncronized as well as the calendar. Hopefully this shows up soon. I genuinely prefer Outlook to Mac Mail – but not being able to sync with MobileMe is a deal breaker
Ok….still no ETA for calendar sync and no good surprise with Office 14.0.2 update…
What about synchronizing Outlook 2011 with Entourage 2008 and then have Entourage 2008 synchronizing with iCal (and ultimately see my iPhone synchronize with iCal…) ?
Is there a proper way to do that as a workaround until you release the service ? (I still have Entourage installed on my Mac along with Outlook)
Even if this workaround requires a human touch I’d be glad to be using it…
Hoping to read you soon.
Shame on you Microsoft! Outlook 2011 is an epic FAIL. It is totally useless to me if I can’t sync my calendar with my iPhone.
Shame on me for buying Outlook 2011 without investigating further. I assumed that syncing between my computer and my other devices would have been a priority. I swear, you’ve lost my business for ever. you will never get another penny from me!
@Me: I agree! Outlook needs to sync with iphone- contacts, notes, mail, calendar, tasks (everything!)
Seriously – it’s February and you still don’t have an answer for this? Not even a 3rd party tool? You have TAKEN FUNCTIONALITY AWAY from Entourage users – why did you even release an incomplete product?
@Me Thanks for your feedback, feel free to submit it to our developers here to let them know as well http://tinyurl.com/4bcz9yp. You can currently sync MobileMe contacts and email accounts through IMAP.
Hi there, can’t sync iPhone and Outlook 2011 calendar yet … please tell us this update will come soon …
Can you please find a fix to the calendar sync problem between your product and iphone via itunes. I am tired of making duplicate entries in my macbook and on my iphone. Frankly it is unproductive, inefficient and wholly unfair. I feel let down by microsoft.
Please put a sticker on the Office 2011 box
“no mobile devices sync!”
most of the mac users will find this interesting before paying for your product.
This is a big mistake and this post has like 6 months online!
what a waste of money
Please release an update that fixes calendar sync.
Each day it’s not there, i rely less and less on Outlook and lose loyalty for the brand.
Is anyone from Microsoft even listening to these issues?!?!?!?! Your customers are complaining! You promote a system that should encourage dialogue and yet you give no answers – for crying out loud can you please give me and the countless others who have wasted their money on your product a timeframe and outline of the solutions you intend to provide. It’s bad enough that you’ve falsely promoted your product, taken our money, made us stick with a product that is essentially useless…. can’t you at least give us some respect and provide a response to our questions/issues. And no, I like many others I assume, have no interest in doing someone else’s job and talking directly to your developers. How about the person/s who man this site actually do something for us!
Dear Apple et. al.,
Now would be a pivotal time to take over Microsoft’s hold on the Office market. Please develop an Outlook like product that will work and be packaged with your Office Suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). After all, you products aren’t released incomplete like Microsoft’s. Microsoft actually released their new Office suite without the ability to sync calendars and contacts with mobile devices. Now, four months later, Microsoft customers not only do not have this ability, they don’t even have a timeline to plan around it.
Evidently Microsoft doesn’t use calendars and contacts, that is why we don’t have updates. Well, Microsoft, THE REST OF THE WORLD IS USING THE CALENDAR AND CONTACT FUNCTION FOR EVERYDAY EVERYTHING!
Ridiculous!
Customers of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac have been more than patient. We need Calendars, Notes, etc. to sync with our iPhones! If you want us to continue to purchase your products, you need to make us a priority and provide the needed compatibility.
Yeah…what Carolyn said!!!
I am totally disappointed to MS release this Office for Mac 2011 that cannot sync calendar…
What I do now is using it for email, store contact, use some Word, Excel…
for calendar I use iCal and Note function on Mail. I am getting use to Number, trying to use Pages and Keynote. One of these days I will totally throw away the Microsoft program, If you still cannot fix your problem.
No sync? Unbelievable!
We are living in 2011 and Microsoft is expecting me to enter my appointments in Outlook and again in my Mobile device???
Serious: ever heard of REQUIREMENTS before you build????
Which planet do you come from?
Totally useless product.
Never again.
I have just purchased imac and Office 2011 and share the many views above regarding serious lack of facilities, especially inability to mobile me sync calendars to remote devices (ipad and iphone). Without this feature I might as well start using ical, imail, iaddress etc and seek a refund from Microsoft, along with many others!?
Also, I have two email addresses, one hotmail and one live.co.uk. They both sync nicely with the server with one exception I cannot sync the live account any more frequently than “every 15 minutes”. Why? I pay fro the premium hotmail service on the hotmail account why doesn’t the live account “sync” whenever I want it to (every minute) or so, as the options in outlook 2011 allow? frustrated Rich
“
Persevered for 2 years, had enough, I’m switching back, never again MS…!!!
Given the update from MS was back in October, could I ask Microsoft to give us an update on the calendar synching functionality schedule.
It IS critical and with mac office being such a strong product should be bumped up the release schedule to keep customers.
Come on MS, let’s have some communication (and some product)!
Unbelievable! Calendar sync still missing from Mac version of Outllok. Totally unusable. Dep regrets.
Microsoft – please give us an update on adding sync services for Outlook Calendar. This is CRITICAL and long overdue!
When will it be available in the promised free update?
Thanks
The product literature/advertising really should have drawn attention to the fact that Sync Services for Outlook 2011 does not include calendar. I have spent the past month re-installing software and data, thinking I had an incorrect setting on my computer – this has taken days to fix – and now I find this blog! PLEASE ENABLE SYNC SERVICES FOR CALENDAR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THIS SITUATION IS JUST A NIGHTMARE…
I bought MS Office when it was first released. I am obviously unable to utilize mobileme to sync with my MS calendar. Hey MS, why don’t you offer a refund program? I would gladly take my money back for this incomplete product.
Why can’t you answer the simple question about when syncronisation will be available for Calendars? This strange delay and inability to forecast a date must be embarrassing for you as professionals. In the interim, a warning should be included in any of your advertising that this is a product without the simple ability to sync calendars
Nearly 270 euros invested in these products. Words is just bugged like hell (try a command-Z in a comment while reviewing a document and you end-up with everything you type doubled). Outlook is just plain useless without synch, excel is utterly slow on my Imac 27″, it starts in about twice the time they have shown on their videos involving old ppc macs…
My review: 1 start out of 5. Why? Powerpoint seems to works well enough to edit 5 bullet-points slides and that’s pretty much all I need.
Money back! Fix your software or expect your next release to be crushed by apple products (that just work fine)…
Where is the calander synch please?
Let us know!!!!
@Brett Beard Outlook 2011 supports MobileMe’s contacts; you can also sync your MobileMe e-mail account with Outlook 2011. Outlook 2011 does not support MobileMe calendar or tasks. We will add calendar sync support through Sync Services in the first half of 2011:http://tinyurl.com/4qy4u87. We realize that for non-Exchange customers heavily dependent upon calendar syncing across multiple devices, applications and services, Outlook for Mac may not be ideal.
@Brett Beard’s post, on behalf of the Office for Mac Team, is completely, and utterly unhelpful. Two things: give a real time table for calendar synching, and two, own the problem. The sentence, “We realize that for non-Exchange customers heavily dependent upon calendar syncing across multiple devices, applications and services, Outlook for Mac may not be ideal.” , is all wrong on some many levels. How about, “the release of Mac Office 2011 wasn’t our best performance. We can do better, we are working around the clock to fix this, we are sorry.”? Admission that Outlook for Mac 2011 may not be ideal is a complete slap in the face. God, I am just beside myself with a company that I have defended and respected for years. How could a great company go so far off base? How sad.
I do not understand the continued defensive comments from the Microsoft team. The fact that contacts can be synchronized through Sync Services is understood. The reference to “non-Exchange customers HEAVILY dependent upon calendar synching” is disingenuous. Every user is heavily dependent on calendar synching. It is a fundamental requirement of productivity software. Had you taken the time to talk to real users during your requirement gathering exercise, (you DO capture requirements before coding, don’t you?), you would understand how essential this function is.
Outlook is completely crippled. It is not a replacement for Entourage. I am continuing to use Entourage for all my email, calendaring, contact management and notes. I am exploring the possibility of completely abandoning MS Office though it is my company’s standard. I am simply stupefied that you did not know or chose to ignore how important this function is. Whoever the business unit leader of this effort at Microsoft would not survive in my company where people are held responsible for their bad decisions.
I bought Outlook 2011 with the knowledge that it did not sync Calendars but it was in the works so I’m not upset about that.
My issue is in the handling of the problem.
ANALOGY: When an airline strands you on the tarmac for 2 hours the pilot will come on and tell you why you are stuck, when you are expected to get off the ground, accept that it may affect your plans and apologize. Fliers are frustrated but they accept it as an imperfect situation and appreciate being informed.
Your lack of communication, firm timeline, explanation and particularly the comment,
We realize that for non-Exchange customers heavily dependent upon calendar syncing across multiple devices, applications and services, Outlook for Mac may not be ideal,
is the equivalent of sitting in an airplane for 2 hours then having the pilot come on and say “We recognize you’ve been here for 2 hours, I won’t explain why we’ve been sitting here, maybe its because there is a big line up, maybe we just aren’t in much of a rush,” and signing off with “Perhaps you shouldn’t have chosen Delta.”
Can anyone explain why every post i put here is deleted when i mention mobile me??
What a disappointment Outlook 2011 for Mac is. It’s like Microsoft took Outlook 95, removed the cool features and put some Mac looking icons on the toolbar. This is a piece of junk! It doesn’t have any of the filtering or power user features. Microsoft should be ashamed, literally, hang your heads. You know better. 2011, please. How does Microsoft plan on winning over Mac users when it releases terrible Mac versions. Nice way to alienate users Microsoft! If I had to develop a strategy for Microsoft I would make the Mac stuff ROCK so that Mac users still desired Microsoft products. I used to be the most ardent Microsoft supporter. i used everything Microsoft I could, But, now since I have to use Mac for work, I’m basically transitioning everything I can away from Microsoft. It just blows on the Mac’s. Get with the times Microsoft, or don’t, and watch as Google and Apple erase you.
From May, MobileMe will NO LONGER SUPPORT ENTOURAGE SYNC SERVICES, so ALL of us using it to maintain a calendar from Entourage to MobileMe and through to iPad/iPhone.
This is because Entourage does not support CalDAV.
Simple question, requiring a simple answer:
When will you be releasing the appropriate Calendar Sync?
Please Microsoft, behave professionally and be able to make sensible commitments.
FYI — I bought one copy to test before rolling it out to the whole company. I won’t be buying any more copies of Office for Mac 2011 until maybe the second half of 2011 or the first half of 2012.
Outlook 2011 is a piece of junk. Doesn’t syn to anything. What’s the point? It’s completely useless.
I transitioned to Mac 2 months ago to trial it before moving my company of 10 to Apple. I realise it takes a while to learn the new language, but being so heavily dependant on MS & Outlook, have decided to stick to PC’s with windows platform for now.
Poor MS compatibility alienates us from our clients. Can’t operate in that environment.
Microsodt, you posted your spiel on why Outlook is the way it is in Oct 2010. It’s now Feb 2011. Any news on when we can expect anything?
@James We hear you and promise to get you an update on calendar sync as soon we have news to share. Thanks so much for your patience.
This is an absolute joke. Apparently Micro$oft has abandoned this thread just like they have abandoned their customers on this whole deal. It has been over 6 months since anyone from M$ has commented on this post. Seriously, how long could it take to add back in a feature that you already had in Entourage??? I ordered Office 2011 the day before release so I would get it right away when it came out so that I could finally have Outlook on my computers. What a sucker I was – this release is a total fraud. It took Entourage, improved the database structure, and through functionality in the toilet. With virtually unlimited resources at your disposal, you really expect your customers to believe that you are really making calendar syncing a priority? Give me a break! If that is true, then everyone involved in this project should be fired as they are clearly incompetent. You promised this would be fixed by end of Q2 (“first half of year”), here were are nearly Q4 and nothing at all. I think a round of refunds is in order – I think it is safe to say we all feel cheated, misled, disrespected, and will never pay another penny to Microsoft. Your lousy operating systems were the reason I left the IBM PC world in the first place, I should have known better.
Way to hide from your customers! – Just go silent.
Office for Mac Team says:
@James We hear you and promise to get you an update on calendar sync as soon we have news to share. Thanks so much for your patience.
Office for Mac Team. I’m afraid your words ring hollow. Or maybe not. I suppose the key words in your statement above are “to share” You surely have news, if only on the progress you are making, the challenges you face, whether you remain true to your statement that sync will be available in the first half of 2011. Tell us what’s happening. We can live with disappointment. It’s not knowing which is so frustrating.
A final piece of advice. It is insensitive and patronising to thank your customers for their patience. The one characteristic that nearly every blogger here has is impatience with Microsoft and you shouldn’t deceive yourselves that it is anything other than that which is being displayed.
Holding off on purchasing. Any projected date on syncing with MobileMe calendars and tasks?
What an expensive lesson I’ve learnt: no mention of any calendar sync issue when I bought my iMac a few days ago yet I now find that the blogosphere is littered with outraged comments – what does Microsoft’s brand stand for if you can’t assume the most up to date version of its most common retail product will actually work on a very expensive computer?
I find it amazing that no MS person can come on line and answer a simple question – when will the release that fixes this come out? Last release in December 2010 so nearly 3 months on and still no sign of a solution
After upgrading from 2008 and wasting hours trying to sync Outlook to iPhone, just landed here. Wow! So #$%^&* burned!
Hi all,
Any clue when there will be an upgrade to syc Outlook with the outside world?
I’m about to buy Office 2011, but without such functionality, it seems pretty useless…
Almost 5 months have passed since Microsoft made the promise of a free update to Outlook which can sync the calendar to my iPhone….
I guess this is not such a high priority update as Microsoft claims it is (or maybe their programmers aren’t capable enough).
A very disappointed customer.
I’m so done with any Microsoft product. I just spent hours trying to find a work around to sync with MobileMe and or ical. My research couldn’t find anything that Office 2011 for mac could sink with other than the address book in mac. It can’t even sink with google products. What a joke. MS should be ashamed of themselves.
Then again, why am I suprised…Microsoft is the reason I just switch to a Mac. I can’t believe MS won’t even give a date as to when an update will be release to allow syncing.
In finding the positives to this, I have realized that this will force me to get away from outlook. Which I’m sure will turn out to be a good thing. Good bye Microsoft. Hello Apple!!!!
Also patiently awaiting Outlook 2011 sync with google calendar. Another thing I’m sad to see missing is my ability to create a calendar entry by dragging an email to the calendar. Also the quick view of calendar and task to the right side of mail view made organizing very easy. Hope this comes in an update soon too.
Just read further “first half of the year” update for iphone sync. And no timeline for google or other calendars.
http://blog.officeformac.com/outlook-for-mac-and-your-calendars/
Sync for calendar.
Please!
Would appreciate an ETA for this functionality.. please. We have a team of 5 how’s productivity is seriously impacted by the lack calendar integration with CALDEV. Considering rolling back to Office 2008.
When will we be getting sync services!!!??? Apple has already screwed us over with their update on iCal! Please don’t follow in their foot steps!
Please we do need to be able to sync Outlook 2011 with Gmail Calendar.
That’s the only thing missing for a great user experience.
What will it take to get you to release a google calendar sync for Outlook 2011? I’m dying here!
Great work.
Announcement of sync services in October 2010. There is no update until now, March 14th, 2011.
Great service.
I am so disappointed in Outlook 2011 for Mac. Not only b/c of the lack of sync with my BlackBerry, but there are so many other problems with the application that it’s not really ready for prime time.
I bought a 27″ iMac over the 2010 Xmas holidays, and decided to buy Outlook for Mac since I’ve been using it on a PC for many years. Boy, was I surprised. Issues with fonts, not having auto-preview, and many other problems. I wish I could turn back the clock and start all over again with MacMail (which I don’t really like either).
Sitting here in Germany, I am finally somehow relieved to find here in this blog so many people who suffered the same “being fooled” feeling as I went through. First I thougth, I am just too inexperienced because I couldn`t figure out, how to sync office for mac 2011 with my iphone. Now I know: Microsoft released the product deliberately as a hunchback. How can you do something like this? Release a product, that even doesn`t match the sync features the outlook for windows had??????????…
When I sync my iPhone with the address book for Office Mac 2011, it sometimes create extra entry in the iPhone though the address book only has either home or work address.
I also need the Office Mac 2011 calendar to sync with my iPhone.
I notice you took my comment off the blog.
You should be refunding money to people as calendar does not synch and you have given no indication when you will have the patch to make it work other than mid 2011. No update since then.
I am amazed that your arrogance allows you to get away with what you have.
If i did what you do to your customers I would be hauled before the ACCC for misconduct.
I have to run two calendars outlook and ical to ensure my mobile is up to date. This means I copy and paste every appointment from outlook to icalc – I should send you the bill for the amount of time i have to waste. I can assure you it is a lot more than the cost of the useless software.
When will you people ever bet it right.
A least give us some hope and let us know when or if you are going to sort this out. Give us a progress report on where you are at. Don’t leave us hanging like you do – I know this will mean you will have to put your normal arrogance aside to do this.
And please don’t take my request off the blog like you did my last comment – it just confirms your arrogance.
Kind regards,
Mark
PS you have my real name and my email address – again don’t leave us hanging. Treat us like customers not a nuisance.
Does anyone from MS even read this comments?
I’m soooo tired of have to run windows in my mac because I have to keep using outlook in windows although I went from PC to mac last fall.
The battery keeps running out on me every time I open outlook in windows.
WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SYNC OUTLOOK FOR MAC WITH MOBILE ME AND OTHER SERVICES…. NOW!!!!!!!!
//anna
Im just glad that we can use mobile me…it cost money, but it works!
Ya know guys, it stands to reason that there may never be sync capability coming…ya know????
For such an expensive piece of soft, Outlook for Mac is really crap.
Don’t buy it. As a matter of fact, buy Apple soft:, it works and keeps working.
I threw away my win box recently. I was a heavy Microsoft user but as for, now Unix and Mac opened my eyes.
The future will belong to the one who is able to adapt: Android, Linux, Apple. By coincidence all Unix related stuff.
Hope, µ-soft gets the message.
If you need to sync calendar then switch to Thunderbird, get all the functionality you need (incl google calendar). Works like it should between Tbird, google, iPhone and more. I also understand that Zimbra mail client can also do the same but have not done it myself.
This is the last and final MS product I have bought.
I should add that since TBird/Google sync work so well I will not be switching back to outlook, update or not. Microsoft, you made me a very happy customer…of Mozilla (and the price is right!)
I should also add that mobileme works perfectly. We will not be switching back to outlook, update or not.
Office for Mac 2011 SP1 Coming Next Week | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
“Microsoft will release Office for Mac 2011 service pack 1 (SP1) next week, the company announced Wednesday.
Microsoft promised “increased stability, security, and some new features to the suite—including improved Outlook syncing support—as well as some performance enhancements.”
Specifically, SP1 will enable calendar synching between Outlook for Mac and Apple’s Sync Services, which Microsoft said was much-requested.
“This will let you sync your Outlook calendar as well as contacts, notes and tasks with any service or device that supports Sync Services, including your iPhone and iPad,” Microsoft said in a blog post.
Microsoft stressed, however, that Apple’s new version of MobileMe will not sync with MacOS Sync Services starting May 5; it’s live now for people who have already moved to the new version of MobileMe calendar. “As a result, Outlook 2011 SP1 calendars that sync with Sync Services on the Mac, will NOT be synced with MobileMe calendars,” the company said.
So, if you sync your iPhone or iPad calendar with Sync Services via iTunes over a cable, you can sync with Outlook 2011 SP1. But if you sync via MobileMe, it won’t sync with Outlook 2011 SP1.”
I have SP! installed. I can create a calendar entry in OUtlook and it shows up on Ical ..but how to do I get all my events in ical back to Outlook?
I have just downloaded SP1 and I cannot get the calendar synced with my i-phone and the i-pad. I have tried I believe everything that I could do, but it does not work.
Does anyone have any advise?
Thanks.
Anyone had any luck with this issue. I have downloaded the SP1 and I can’t get the calendar to sync with my iphone or ipad either and I also believe I have tried everything. Getting really frustrated.
Anyone able to shed any light on this at all…???? Thanks
@Trish
Here is a link to a video that shows you how to sync your Outlook calendar with your iPhone. Hope it helps:
http://mac2.microsoft.com/help/office/14/en-us/outlook/item/356577cb-b12d-4ed9-9e19-075f8de393ae?category=e638ce46-4a8f-4801-9ba7-42314e3dffaf
i’m new to macs but this very long list of comments is very interesting. However i think there is still a problem and would love to hear from others. I have now got sync services working between Outlook 2011 for mac and iCal, it works fine and the categories that i apply work well together. If i go to iCal though anything that i have added via Outlook does not get propagated to my Google calendar. Also if i add a calendar item on my HTC android phone it gets all the way to iCal but never makes it to Outlook. So in principal what Microsoft have said does work but there are limitations.
So my question to you Microsoft is what is stopping the synchronization of entries that have been added via Outlook getting all the way through to my Google calendar via iCal?
And also what is stopping entries that i have added via my android phone getting all the way through to Outlook on my Mac?
P.S. running 14.1.2 for Mac Office…
Microsoft should be embarrassed by the piece of garbage it has tried to pass off as a “business” productivity suite. Office 2011 is so horrendously underdeveloped, I wouldn’t accept this even as a beta product. Pisspoor functionality, tendency to crash at every juncture, and ludicrously slow.
I gave up on trying to get calendar syncing to work for a client. Game over, Microsoft. I’m switching to Thunderbird.
Can’t believe I just bought Outlook for Mac 2011 only to find this thread and realize it cant sync the calendar with Google. What a joke. I will be asking for a refund and if they don’t process this I will get in touch with the credit card company. Unfit for purpose!
Any word on when Outlook 2011 will be able to sync with Google calendars? Is this on the list to be included in the free update?
I want my money back. Why?
Because with a 200 euro suite I’m still:
-Not syncing with Google calender,
-not syncing wirelessly with iphone.
Can I get my money back?
Boris.
Any update from MS? I just bought yesterday and can’t synch with google apps calendar. The latest update does nothing for it either. One year on from this MS post and still absolutely nothing!
Hi
Outlook 2011 for Mac is just sitting there, taking up space on my hard drive until Microsoft can come up with a solution to sync Google Calendars. Really disappointing. Mac’s Mail app and iCal just giving you a hiding at the moment. If you can get it together then you might find some happier customers and pick up a bigger slice of the Mac market!
In the words of Jean-Luc Picard, “Make it so!”
I just went through the entire thread of this site. Starting in October of 2010 the first comments dealt with syncing Outlook with Google. Google Calendar STILL. as of Sept 20, 2011, cannot sync with Outlook for Mac 2011!
Give us some hope Microsoft! Is there even a beta in process? What time frame are we looking at?
Really? A year later and Office 2011 for Mac STILL cannot sync with Google Calendars? I know it is illegal, on the Microsoft campus, to use the word “Google” – but for us, in the real world, syncing of the calendars is a MUST. Please move this to the top of the development queue.
The video posted by Microsoft is simple to follow, however it doesn’t work. I created an appt on my Outlook 2011 Calendar, configured sync services to sync my calendar and the appt will not appear in my iPhone or Vice Versa if I create an appt in my iPhone I cannot get it to appear in my Outlook.
I am thinking about getting refund for my Office Suite and sticking to the lousy Mac software, at least it works!
Entourage used to work, why go ahead and change it? Come on, it cannot be that difficult to make everything simply sync from Outlook 2011 for Mac to an iPhone. Are we entitled to a refund????
I see that the ability to share calendars has been promised for over a year now. When is this going to happen? Why is it taking so long? Most inconvenient for business.